Banjo.



Patented Dot. 3|, |899. W. J. RILEY.

B A N J (Application med June e, 1898.) l

2 Sheets-Sheet NVENTOR -WITN ESSES No. 63s,|79. Patented-ooi. 3|, |899.

W. J. RILEY.

BANJO.

(Applicationv led Suns 6, 1898.)

(lo Model.) 2 Shvae'ts-Sheet 2.

Qi l (l-"n NQ a a S S e n n S5 S NW "o x i5 N N "A N S Y H\ a@ S FL INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEe VVIIIIIIAM JOSEPH RILEY, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,17 9, dated October 31, 1899.

Application filed June 6, 1898. Serial No. 682,712. (No model.)

To allv whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JOSEPH RILEY, musical-instrument manufacturer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 25 Constitution Hill, in the city of Birmingham, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Banjos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a new and improved construction of banjo, and this object is accomplished in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal central sectional view taken on the line a: Fig. 3, showing a banjo embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a broken side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front plan view of the same. Fig. I is a detail sectional View taken on the line oc/ cc', Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a detail end elevation, the tailpiece being broken away to show the engagement of the looped tail ends of the strings with the pegs or pins.

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In constructing a banjo according to the said invention the body is composed of a hoop or ring a, made in a single piece of metal and formed integral,with an annular stiffenin g and reinforcing flange or rib a projecting inwardly from its inside at a point rather above the middle line of the hoop, the outer periphery of which is made of two diameters, d2 being the upper and small part, while a3 is the larger and lower portion, with the annular step atbetween them coming at a point about opposite to the inside iiange or rib a. Encircling the upper end of the hoop is a vellumstretcher ring or bezel h, by which the vellumdrawing down of the ring b for tensioning or tightening up the vellum is effected by means of a series of screws e, passing vertically downward through plain holes 7910 in the said ring and with their heads e lying Ilush with sinhings b2, surrounding the upper ends of -the said holes Z910, while the screw tail ends e2 take into inside screwed bushes f, preferably made of gun-metal and secured, so as to be incapable of rotation, within the upper parts g of holes g, made around the shelf or step part uit of the hoop, while the continuations g2 of the said holes are plain and receive and conceal thc said tail ends of the screws.

The neck 7L of the instrument, which has the nger-board h2 upon the top side, is doweled at h3 and takes into a socket or foot fi, made of aluminium or other metal, which is attached to the hoop either by screws t, as represented, or in any other convenient way.

The stringsj pass over an ordinary bridge j and underneath a bar j?, directed across the vellum and having` its opposite endsj3 adjustably connected, as hereinafter described, to the tensioning-ring h of the instrument, and thence to the tailpiece 7s, consisting of a series of small pins or pegs 7.1;', directed downwardly from a beading 7a2 on the said ring h and adapted to receive the looped ends j of the strings.

The tailpiece 7e' comprises a plate of metal soldered or otherwise secured to the ring l) and having an overlying corrugated cover part f, whereby the tail ends of the strings and the pegs or pins 7c are concealed. In Fic.. 5 the central part of the tailpiece is omitted to show the pegs or pins and the looped tail ends of the strings engaged therewith. I may, however, employ any suitable construction of tailpiece, and therefore do not coniine Inyself to the one shown and described.

The attachment and adjustment of the end plates j of the cross-bar f, under which the strings pass and thereby keep the bridge pressed down upon the vellum, are effected at each end bya series of three screws, the middleone, jt, of which passes through a middle hole in the end plate'ji, with its heady'6 bearing on the top of the said plate and its tail end tal;- ing into a screwed holeji, made to receive it in the ring Z1, while other adjusting-screws jsj come one on either side of the middle screw, with their heads coming on the under side of the said plate e3, and thus form stops, against which thc said plate bears when forced down ICO bythe screwing home of the screw .74. l/Vhen the bar requires to be raised, the middle screw of each end plate is slacked back to the required extent, the ends following it up by the lifting force exerted by the strings against the under side of the bar, and then the side screws js jg are raised by a screw-driver inserted through the holesj10 until their heads abut against the under sides of the end plates, after which the whole is made rigid by tightening up .the center screwsj'l. Y

rlhe rotation of the screws for adjusting the vellum-ring is eifected by a screw-driver, and instead of the holes in the step-liange of the hoop being` provided with gun-metal bushes such bushes may be dispensed with and the holes themselves may be wormed to receive the tail ends of the adjusting-screws.

The tension cross-bar jg causes the strings to assume a sharp angle near the bridge j', and thereby exert considerable down pressure or pull on the bridge, which effectually prevents it from chattering, thus lnaterially iniproving the tone of the instrument.

Having fully described my invention, what 1 desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent isl. A banjo having its body composed of a metal hoop or ring formed integral on its inside with an inwardly-projecting, annular, stillening-rib, and its exterior constructed of two different diameters respectively above and below said rib and separated at their exterior by a flattened, annular step, substantially as described.

2. A. banjo having` its body composed of a hoop or ring made of a single piece of metal formed integral on its inside with an inwardlyprojecting solid stiffeningrib and its exterior constructed of two different diameters respectively above and below said rib and separated at their exteriors byan annular step containing a series of screw-threaded sockets, substantially as described.

3. A. banjo, consisting of a hoop or ring made of a single piece of metal formed integral with an internal solid stiffening-rib and constructed exteriorly of two different dialneters respectively above and below said rib and separated at their exteriors by an annular step containinga series of screw -threaded sockets, a vellum, a vellum-stretching ring encircling the part of the hoop or ring of least diameter, and adjusting-screws engaging the vellum-stretching ring and screwed into the screw-threaded sockets within said annular step, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the strings, the vellum, the vellum-stretching ring, and the bridge-piece of a banjo, of a tension-bar crossing the strings near the brid ge-piece and hav ing end plates, screws passing through said end plates into the vellum-stretching ring, and stop-screws adjustable in said ring and having their heads bearing against the under sides of said end plates, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

-WILLIAM JOSEPH RILEY.'

Witnesses:

ARTHUR T. SADLER, A. H. DAILAsToR, 

